FICO Scoring Buckets (or "Scorecards")

[athensguy]

It is possible for someone with derogs to have a higher score than someone with a clean report who has extra high utilization, since Utilization is not used to determine buckets. Each bucket has a range of scores, and there is significant overlap. The main differences in the scores for each bucket are utilization and mix. Buckets are determined by derogatories (there are two different derogatory buckets, depending on whether you have a PR) and by age.

[Anonymous]

Of course there is a difference between clean report and financial risk.  Certainly someone with a 'clean' report can have a lower score than a person with a 'dirty' report simply because they pose a greater future financial risk based on the rating variables of the model (probably would be a case like you're stating although the derogs would have to be of the old variety).  I don't think that the score is calculated after you're placed in a bucket ...I think the buckets were created to help illustrate to consumers how future behaviors would  impact a given score...e.g. the FICO score simulator. 

[athensguy]

Your score can go down when a negative is removed.

[Anonymous]

that would most likely be a result of the rating variables changing.  e.g. if the average age of your accounts is 6 years before and 5 years after the negative is removed rather than your score being calculated differently because you now have a clean report.

[haulingthescoreup]

Sorry, scores change when your bucket changes. I know this personally. I lost 15 points when I added on to my DH's long-history Discover card and jumped from 12 years longest to 19 years longest. The SW alert indicated that it was re-bucketing, and nothing else had changed.

Each score bucket has its own bell-shaped distribution of scores, so there isn't just one, there are 10, or however many we have at the moment.

This is known, not theoretical.

[Anonymous]

I haven't been able to find anything from the Fair Isaac Corp. that comments on bucket scoring...can you point me to some kind of document from Fair Isaac that discusses the bucket scoring system?

[fused]

It's highly unlikely you'll find anything giving you the specifics of buckets and scoring. Much of the real and factual information is top secret.

[smallfry]

Google Joint Center for Housing Studies February 2004. You'll find something there actually a 48 page study about segmentation. Currently we have 8 scorecards FICO 08 will have 12 scorecards. They most certainly do exist but FICO isn't giving away the entire formula.

[haulingthescoreup]

If you have Scorewatch, here's what you'll see when you get re-bucketed (assuming that the alert doesn't get bumped by something else):

Your FICO® score went down on a day when there were no credit alerts on your Equifax Credit Report™. This can happen if:

* You moved from one category of credit users to another as time passed. For example, you may have transitioned from the category "consumers with a new credit history" to the category "consumers with a two- to five-year credit history". As a result, your credit report is evaluated differently, causing a slight change in your score. The good news is that moving between categories like this usually offers you the potential to reach a higher FICO® score in the future.

(emphasis mine)

As others mentioned, this is one of the closely-held secrets of the proprietary formula, but it's real.

[smallfry]

They make it really hard to stay at 850. Our accountant is 83. His oldest CC is an Amex from 1958. He currently has 3 cards no installments no inquiries. His wife used to collect store cards. He said they had over 50 at one time. All are closed as are most of his credit cards. Average age is well over 25 years. His scores are 830-830-835. He is getting dinged for no new accounts.